Home in Cove

Day 96, Monday, 9/21. This is it… Heading to Cove. 96 days and just over 10,000 miles. Averaged about 104 miles per day. Not bad for a couple of ‘middle age’ retiree’s. We had a lot of fun, saw a lot of stuff, but now we need to clean up and get ready for Fall and Winter in NE Oregon. A large box of mail (90% junk) to sort, laundry, start the unpack, take a nap, and recap the trip, take another nap.

We hope you have enjoyed Canada and Alaska as we traveled down a lot of roads.

Will start a new blog for the next trip. Hope to see you there!

Beaverton again

Day 92: Thursday, 9/17: Tammy was there for breakfast and she gave us wonderful vegetables from her garden! Left for Beaverton around noon, Jim Just got home from his trip east and we kicked back again. Jim, Marci and Cassie went to “Back to School” night at Cassie’s school.

Day 93: Friday, 9/18: We did some shopping and relaxed a bunch. Had a bit of a wine tasting after Jim & Marci got home from work. Some of the dessert wines from Silver Sage Winery in southern BC and they are great.

Day 94, Saturday, 9/19: Went to the Oktoberfest in Mt Angel. As always there was great music, good beverage, great company, and lots of people!!! It rained a bit at first but then the sun came out.

Day 95, Sunday, 9/20: Helped Jim and Marci with some projects. It is good to just spend some time with them.

On to Aumsville

Day 91, Wednesday, 9/16: Awoke to rain, and more rain. Glad we basically packed up last night. Decided to drive into Pacific City for breakfast but didn’t find anything open. Ended up eating a very late brunch in Salem. Drove to Aumsville to visit Mary Jo and Jerry and it was good to see them. They had a covered patio built on the back of their new home and it is so nice. Lots of beautiful flowers in their yard too. Did some minor repairs to the hitch system and then had a great BBQ steak dinner.

Pacific City - Sand Lake Dunes

Day 89, Monday, 9/14: Jim left early. Grandpa got up and saw Cassie get on the bus and Marci off to work. We did a load of laundry and then on to a grocery store for a few things. Then we were on our way to the coast, Tillamook area. Plan to spend two nights in a forest service campground at Sand Lake Dunes so we can ride the RZR on the dunes and along the beach. It is a large designated ATV area. After a short ride this afternoon we discovered that driving on the sand really eats gas!!!! The sun is out although there are clouds and it is kind of windy which is to be expected. Was in the 70’s today here and that is great. Hope it continues to be nice tomorrow.

Day 90, Tuesday, 9/15: Well, 90 days since we left home and it has gone by so fast. Several rides today and not many people out on the dunes which was nice. It is a blast to ride on the dunes and also drive up and down the beach. Sun is out and it got up to about 76 today. Fun…

Beaverton

Day 88, Sunday, 9/13: Left Fall City about 8:15 this morning and headed south to Lacey, WA where there is a new Cabela’s store. It is a great place and the first one we have ever been in. Bought a few things and were there about an hour. We’ve never seen so much outdoor gear in one place!

Arrived in Beaverton at Jim & Marci’s about 2:15 and it was great to see them! Cassie is as tall as I am now and that is a bit hard to take…. She is growing up too fast. We had a great afternoon and evening visiting and catching up on their summer and telling them about ours. Jim leaves for Pittsburgh in the morning for a few days.

Fall City / Sammamish

Day 87, Saturday, 9/12: Another beautiful morning. A few weeks ago I was quite surprised to hear from a friend I had lost touch with almost 35 years ago! She and her husband live in Sammamish and we plan to get together with them today. Looking forward to it….



Barbara and Tom picked us up here at the RV park this morning and took us to see Snoqualmie Falls. It is quite spectacular but evidently even more so in the spring when there is much more water flowing. Lots of people out and about here on a nice Saturday.

It was so wonderful to connect with Barbara again after all these years! We went to their very nice home in Sammamish and enjoyed catching up on 35 years worth of events in our lives! Tom grilled some chicken and we had a good afternoon meal with them. They have so many beautiful flowers in their yard, 2 cats and lots of birds feeding among the trees and shrubs. It was a pleasant way to spend the day. Barbara has a sewing room to die for and has made about 100 quilts. She has them in every room of the house and they are gorgeous. Might have to come and spend a week here so she can teach me and share her knowledge! We do plan to keep in touch now that we have found each other again.

Glad to have hook-ups so we can run the air conditioner in the camper. It is in the low 80’s which isn’t that hot but warmer than we are used to this summer. Plan to head to the Cabela’s store as soon as it opens tomorrow morning and then on the Beaverton….

Back in the US....

Day 86, Friday, 9/11: Woke early this morning and had a campfire to finish up the wood. Bob cooked breakfast outside which was a treat and we had a pleasant morning, our last in Canada for this trip. This area is beautiful and we would like to come back here again someday and stay a little longer. We were packed up and on the road by 9:45. Another beautiful sunny day!!! Stopped in Hope for fuel and then on the Abbotsford to the border crossing. This was the 8th time we have crossed the US/Canada border and wouldn’t you know it, for the very first time they searched us!!!! Asked about fruit and veggies and of course I had to tell them I had a few tomatoes and two kiwi’s so the agriculture inspector had to look. He made us stay in the office and spent quite a bit of time looking in the truck, the camper and the trailer. We had declared the wine but they didn’t even question that! Didn’t ask to see the shotgun either. It’s kind of strange what they focus on. He asked about meat which we have some in the freezer, all purchased at grocery stores. Nothing wild. Made me nervous and I’m not sure why. Guess it is just their attitude as if they think you are guilty of something…. It was a relief when he finally gave us our passports back and said have a nice day! So we are back in the US once again. Continued driving to a place called Fall City, WA and staying at an RV park there. We are tired, hot and in need of showers.

E.C.Manning Provincial Park

Day 85, Thursday, 9/10: Woke to beautiful sunshine this morning and it didn’t get below 64 all night. There was some wind as we are on a narrow spit that goes out into the lake. It’s called Haynes Point Provincial Park on Osoyoos Lake. We have decided to stay in Canada another day so we headed west from Osoyoos toward E. C. Manning Provincial Park. It is about a 3 1/2 hour drive (179 km). This area is huge and kind of like our National Forests back home. There are 4 campgrounds but we discovered that one had already closed for the season. There is a very large one that our friends visit in the winter for skiing and snowboarding. We are staying at Mule Deer, the smallest of the 4, and right on the Similkameen River. It is one of the best sites we have had so far and we can have a campfire! Big trees, lots of shrubs between campsites and the sound of the river. You can’t beat that! We had lunch and did some cleaning out of the truck/camper/trailer. We are commemorating our last night in Canada with some grilled tenderloin steaks for dinner, and some wine of course. It is rather sad that our adventure is coming to an end. This place is close enough that we could come here anytime so that makes us feel better. We are about 2 hours from the border crossing at Sumas, just south of Abbotsford, BC (to the west). Or 3 ½ from the crossing at Osoyoos (east). Have our flags out, US/Canadian/Oregon.

Osoyoos

Day 84, Wednesday, 9/9: Plan to leave here this morning and will only have a few more days left in Canada. Kind of sad to see this adventure end but we are getting a bit homesick and thinking of going home to get things ready for winter…

Ended up being kind of a long day. We stopped in Kelowna for lunch and further south to get fuel. The road follows many lakes in this area and it is a pretty drive although more traffic and people than we have been used to! Nice sunny day in the low 80’s. We had planned to visit several wineries in the area as there are MANY but ended up only going to one and that was Silver Sage because we wanted to buy some of their wine specifically and haven’t been able to find it in any of the liquor stores. They have fantastic dessert wines and we ended up buying 2 ½ cases of various kinds!!!! Plan to have some wine tasting parties when we get home…. They assured us that we won’t have a problem crossing the border as the tax is so petty that it isn’t worth the border guards filling out the paperwork. We will see if this is true!!!

Had some trouble finding a place to stop. It was after 4:00 when we left the winery and the 3 provincial parks that we drove through were full or we couldn’t fit. Finally, the last one said they had overflow parking in the day use area. It is right on the lake and we can hear the waves crashing on the shore. It will be fine for tonight. Haven’t yet decided if we will cross the border here or go west and spend another night in Canada. We have some firewood left that we would like to use or we need to find someone to give it to. Will see how we feel in the morning. Have a bit of money left to spend too! Of course we could exchange it for US money but that isn’t any fun.

Kamloops 2

Day 83, Tuesday, 9/8: OK, so I slept in until 9:30 this morning…. Bob has been up for hours on the computer and working on breakfast. Also, put a small roast in the crock pot since we have decided to spend 2 nights here so we can do laundry and maybe visit the wildlife park. The sun is out and it looks like it is going to be a nice day.

After lunch we walked over to the Wildlife Park. It is right next door to this RV park so didn’t have far to go. The RV park gives you a 2 for 1 admission ticket if you stay here. It is a nice little park with bears wolves, moose, caribou, birds of prey and lots of smaller critters. We spent about 1 ½ hours walking around. Came back to the camper, Bob had a nap, I read, we had dinner and then played cribbage and Skip-bo. Pretty uneventful day but relaxing.

Day 84, Wednesday, 9/9: Plan to leave here this morning and will only have a few more days left in Canada. Kind of sad to see this adventure end but we are getting a bit homesick and thinking of going home to get things ready for winter…

Kamloops

Day 82, Monday, 9/7: Well it rained all night and continued to pour after we got up so we have decided to head on down the road instead of trying to ride the RZR. Looks like most everyone camped here is packing up. It was a nice place to spend the night anyway. On down the highway to 100 Mile House where we got fuel and a few groceries. Ended up driving to Kamloops and after stopping at the visitor’s centre (nothing special after the last one!) we are in an RV park just east of town next to a wildlife park. The sun is shining and it has warmed up to low 70’s. Just relaxing, watching some TV, and catching up on email.

To Lac La Hache area

Day 81, Sunday, 9/6: Rained a bit during the night but woke to sunshine. Everyone is packing up this morning, getting ready to head out. We thought about staying and taking the RZR out but decided to head down the road too. Stopped in Quesnel for fuel and then at a rest area for a picnic lunch. It was up to 70 degrees at this point but after we headed south a bit it started to rain really hard and the temperature dropped 20 degrees in a very short time! They have a fantastic visitor’s centre in Williams Lake so we stopped there for awhile and it has now topped our list of the best visitor’s centers’! Bob purchased book’s on how to speak Canadian, unusual Canadian laws, and a Canadian flag that we can fly when we have friends visit from the north…

Something to mention, Sheldon and Carol purchased their RV in the states and didn’t get a change to put out the awning before they bought it. When they did finally have the chance to put out the awning, much to their horror it had an American flag printed on it!!! We laughed so hard when they showed it to us! Buyers beware!!! But it was nice of them to greet us with our flag…..

We left our friends at Williams Lake, deciding to drive to a small lake called Helena as Andy told us there are lots of ATV trails in the area. We had a map and instructions from Andy but when we got to the turnoff we would have missed it completely but there was Andy, Sandy and Xander standing there waving their arms and pointing for us to turn! It was awesome!!!! What great people they are. At the first turn in the road there were 5 or 6 ATV’rs standing there so we stopped and asked about riding in the area. They were hilarious! Said we weren’t allowed to ride since we were from out of the province and that since we were from Oregon they would have to take our food, women and beer! Fun. The lake is about 8 kliks in on a gravel road and we are spending the night here at a forest campground, with quite a few others I might add, and hope to take the RZR out in the morning, depending on the weather. We have a nice view of the lake and the sunset.

Forest Rose - Barkerville area 3

Day 80, Saturday, 9/5: Carol and Sheldon brought cinnamon buns to our camper door this morning and they immediately went to the top of our ratings list! Sticky, which is just how we like them! About 9:00 we all headed over to Barkerville, just a few kliks from the campground. Bought our tickets and decided which show we wanted to see at the theatre. Went through some old houses that are furnished with items from the 1860’s to 1890’s. There are shops up and down the street too. Our first ‘adventure’ was to take a ride in the stage coach. There were 7 of us inside and another 4 or 5 on top along with the driver. It was a little bumpy and we were commenting on how we could not stand to be in one a whole day, let alone 7 days which is how long it usually took to get to the next town. Quite an experience. After that we strolled farther up the street toward China town, then on up the hill to the courthouse. It was about 1 klik and ‘uphill’ so of course I was slow. Bob and I took our time and were almost late for the show but they were kind enough to wait for us as they knew we were on our way.

After that we took a ‘trail’ to the Chinese and Catholic cemetery. It was steep too for a ways but then it was all downhill from there! The cemetery isn’t much to see as all the headstones are gone and it is so overgrown. Walked the wagon road back into town and had just enough time to grab a bite to eat before our show started at 1:00. What a fantastic show it was! There were 6 performers and boy could they sing, dance and play musical instruments. They sang songs from the era and also did a ‘rap’ version of an old mining song which everyone loved! It was very entertaining and lasted about an hour. After that we visited more buildings, shops and houses along the street. Ended up at the gold panning area where each of us tried our hand at it and got a few tiny specks of gold to show for it! On to the water wheel demonstration and that was quite entertaining too. Barkerville is just such a fun place to visit and we could have spent much more time seeing everything but about 6:00 we were getting tired and decided to head back to camp. One last stop at the Candy Store and we were on our way….
Andy and Sandy treated us with moose steaks for dinner and I have to say they were quite good! Never thought I would be eating moose but glad we had the opportunity to try it. We ate dinner outside and then went into their RV for dessert. It was another great evening of food and spirits, and great conversation with friends

Forest Rose - Barkerville area 2

Day 79, Friday, 9/4: Woke to some clearing in the sky. Decided to unhook the trailer and take the camper off the truck so we could have transportation in case it rains again. We drove back down the highway to the Cottonwood House which is an historic road house on the Cariboo Wagon Road. We had visited here before too but it has changed somewhat. The government decided they didn’t want to spend money to run it so the school district took it on and they have high schools kids doing everything. It is only open in the summer months anyway and gives them good experience. You can take a tour of the road house, visit the barns and there is a ‘general store’ that sells food (breakfast and lunch items and baked goods). The kids do all of the baking and cooking. They give the tours and sell things in the gift shop. It is quite an operation. On the way back to the campground we stopped at various pullouts with signage about the history of the area. Stopped in Wells to speak with the RCMP about where we can ride an ATV but the one and only RCMP officer was out. The office person said he might stop by our campsite later.
We had been back to camp about a ½ hour when our friends arrived. Andy, Sandy, and Xander and Sheldon, Carol and Christopher, plus Ulu and Tipper, their dogs. It was really great to see them again. Xander just graduated from high school and Christopher is going into Junior year. Both families have Arctic Fox RV’s, one a 5th wheel and one a trailer, and they had visited us about two summers ago in Cove. Some of the AFP’s (Arctic Fox People). We had some beer and wine and enjoyed the evening visiting and just having fun! Did a pot luck dinner but couldn’t have a campfire as there is currently a ban on them in southern BC. Didn’t matter though we still had a great time!

Forest Rose - Barkerville area

Day 78, Thursday, 9/3: Left camp about 8:30 and headed to Quesnel. Found Wal-Mart, Safeway, liquor store, bank and got fuel before heading east to Barkerville. Lots of history here relating to the gold rush in the 1860’s. We are staying at one of the Barkerville campgrounds (there are 3) called Forest Rose and it is a Provincial Park so no hook-ups but very clean. It started raining this morning and really dumped this afternoon. We took naps and waited for it to let up so we could make a tarp awning to sit under. We can now walk between the camper and the trailer without getting wet and we can use the picnic table too. The camp operator says it is supposed to clear up some tomorrow but we also heard it might rain again on Saturday. Whatever happens, we are here to stay for at least 3 nights. We can take the RZR on a side road over to the town of Barkerville which is like a theme park. They have shows, vendors and authentic buildings from the old days. We will probably go there on Saturday when our friends from Vancouver, BC are here. They should arrive sometime tomorrow and they have two campsites reserved just down from us. It is a beautiful forested campground and there is hardly anyone here as it is close to the end of the season. Barkerville is open May through September. When we were here 9 years ago it was the second week in September and it snowed! No accumulation but it was definitely cold. Plan to grill something for dinner (under the tarp!). Yesterday it was 85 and today it was 55…. Fall is definitely here and the trees along the highway today were changing color

South to Barkervile??

Day 77, Wednesday, 9/2: Woke to another beautiful sunny day! This RV park is one of the best and the couple who own it are very nice. We decided to do a load of laundry while we were here and didn’t head down the road until about 11:30. Possibly driving to Barkerville today so may not have Wi-Fi until next Monday. We should have cell service though since we are now in BC.

We got to Prince George just after noon and did a bit of shopping at the Canadian Tire Store. They have all kinds of things like camping equipment, sporting goods, house wares, automotive, etc. Had planned to find a grocery store but didn’t see one along the highway we were on and then we got into road construction… We finally stopped at an small RV park about 10 kliks north of Quesnel. The plan is to drive into town in the morning, buy a few groceries and then take the side road to Barkerville. It was quite warm today (mid-80’s) and a bit humid. The shelves that Bob built to hold the batteries in the trailer were coming apart so he has spent some time repairing.
We noticed that after we left Prince George going south the vegetation became very brown and dry. Learned there is a provincial-wide ban on campfires now in this area and we probably won’t be able to have one at the Barkerville campground either. Everyone says it has been an extremely dry summer and there are still some fires burning in the lower part of BC. We also heard it is supposed to rain which is OK since they obviously need it.

Vanderhoof

Day 76, Tuesday, 9/1: Can’t believe it is already September!!! Up early and on the road by 8:30. Headed east and listened to an audio book. Still another sunny day and in the low 70’s. Decided to take a side trip and visit Historic Fort St. James which is north of Vanderhoof. It was well worth the trip… For the most part it is a replica of how it was in the 1890’s and each building has someone there in period costume to describe what the building was used for and answer any questions you might have. This place was established in 1806 by the Hudson Bay Company and became a major trading center for fur trappers, both First Nation and European. It was quite interesting. Driving back to Vanderhoof we encountered a heavy rain storm. By the time we got to Dave’s RV Park it had stopped, except for a few drops here and there. Can’t see blue sky but it has stopped raining. Very nice RV park and we have Wi-Fi and cable TV, the luxuries of life! Did they ever bury Michael Jackson??? And do we care???